Tobacco stripping and booking machine



- .Euly 15, i924q 1,501,441

E. M. DEILLER TOBACCO STRIPPING AND BOOKING MACHINE Filed June 29 1990 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

IIVI/ENTOR A TTORIVEYS Jab 15,1924. L50L441 E. M. DEILLER TOBACCO STRIPPNG AND sooxiuc MACHINE Fild June 29 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNl/E/VTOR ATTORNEYS.

E; M. DEILLER TOBACCO STR IPPING AND BOOKING MACHINE Filed June 29 1920 4. Sheets-Sheet 5 1 Q 60. I 1 i) I 61 4 1 1 116 1 54 '42 ATTORNEYS July 15, 1924. 1,501,441

- E. M. DEILLER TOBACCO STRIPPING AND BOOKING MACHINE Filed June 29 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 1 49.5 8 4104 105 IIVI/ENTOR Patented July 15, 1924,

QNETED STATES Parent oF icE;

EUGENE M. nEILLER, or rnvInGTon, NEW anasn r.

TOBACCO STRIPPING AND BOOKING- MACHINE.

Application filed June 29, 182( Serial Ila 392,622.

State of New J ersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tobacco Stripping and Booking Machines, of which the followin is a specification.

This invention relates to tobacco stripping and booking machines of that type set forth in the United states Patent No. 1,287,- 906 of December 17, 1918.

The objects of the invention are to secure a tobacco stripper which strips the stems of a tobacco leaf clean and without breaking the same, even at the small or tip end; to provide for this purpose mechanism which guides the leaf so as to keep the stem in proper alinement; to avoid tearing of the leaves or halves of leaves, especially by entanglement in the machine; to thus provide a machine which conserves and economizes material; to perform the stripping in advance of the booking, or strip a considerable portion of the length of the leaf before it is caught between the drum and belts; to provide improved means for mounting the press'er roller for smoothing the leaves before they enter the cutter; to provide an improved spring means for maintaining the presser roll under proper pressure; to secure a simple and compact construction which will produce satisfactory results even in the hands'of an inexperienced operator, and se cure other advantages and results as may be brought out inthe following description.

Referring to theaccompanying drawings in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is an elevation of the improved machine from the front where the operator sits;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the machine looking at its left-hand side, or side at the operators left-hand.

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. l, portions being broken away;

Figure 4 is an elevation of the machine looking at the right-hand side, or side at the operators righthand, portions being broken away;

"Figures 5 and 6 are views of the clutch operating mechanism taken on the line 5-6 of Fig. 1, and looking in the dir'ection 'ofthe arrow, said figures showing respectively;

the position of the parts when theclutch' i's thrown out and when it is thrown in;

Figure 7 is a detail perspective view of control trip with its slide removed;

F"gure 8 is a top edge view of said slide; Figure 9 is a detail view of the knives and knife shaft, partly in longitudinalsection"; Figure 10 is a similar-viewofthe' brush and brush shaft; Figure ll is a detail top plan view of the pressure roll mounting, and "F'gure'12 is a' detail perspective view of the leaf deflector and cleaner for the'cut ter.

In the specific embodiment of the invention shown in saiddrawings, 1, 2' indicate the suitable side pieces or frames connected by tie-rods 3, 4L and struts or braces-5,:6.-Be-' tween the upper parts of said side frames 1, 2 is mounted a drum, comprising end sections 7, 7, made fast upon a shaftS, as by set screws 9, in spaced relation to each other, the space between said drum sections 7, 7 being substantially the width of the cut to be made in removing the stems of the tobacco leaves to be stripped. Between the adjacent ends of said drum sections 7; 7 is a circumferential projecting flange 10, preferably closing the space between the drum sectionsand preferably having an' annular groove 11 on its'periph'ery to receivethe stem of a leaf.

At the front of the machine and preferably mounted upon an'axis slightly below that of the drum, is a cutter roller 120cmprising end sections 13, 13 which cooperate with the sections 14, 14 of a cutter to remove the stems from the leaves. Around these roller sections 13, 13 extend a: plurality :of belts 15 which pass rearwardly over said roller sections and then beneath the drum, lying against said drum for the greater part of its circumference and leaving it at an upper point of the front side of the drum or same side at which they entered beneath it. As shown in the drawings, the circumferential points at which the belts'enter beneath the drum and leave the same are spaced apart sufliciently to allow free'access 'to' the drum to remove thebooked' leaves; and the the horizontal diametric plane of the drum so as to position the point of contact of the leaves with the drum below the cutters, thus causing the leaf issuing from the cutters to follow the belts downwardly to the drum and be gripped therebetween without bending, wrinkling or folding of the leaves, and preventing the tendency of the leaves to turn upwardly. Where the belts leave the drum they turn backward and upward around a roller 16, and then they extend over a forward top roller 17 a rear top roller 18, individual tension rollers 19 at some distance below the drum, 'and extend upwardly forward over a. small lower front roller 20 adjacent the cutter roll and adapted to guide the belts beneath the same to extend upward in front of it, all as clearly shown in Figure 3 ofthe drawings.

A driving shaft 21 is mounted in the side frames preferably below the drum sections 7, 7, and extends at one end beyond the side frame and carries a driving pulley 22 adapted to receive ahelt 23 driven from a pulley 24 mounted on a countershaft 25 journaled in a suitable bearing 26 fastened to the rear of the side piece 2 of the machine frame, the

, said countershaft 25 receiving power through a pulley 27 and belt 28 from a conventional motor 29 mounted on a bracket 30 at the top of the side piece 2 of the frame. At the other end, said shaft 21 projects beyond the side frame and carries a pinion 31 meshing with a gear wheel 32 keyed to the drum shaft 8, by means of which the drum is driven. The rear top roller 18 and cutter roller 12 are driven at the same rate of speed by means of gears 33 and 3 1 meshing with the gear wheel 32 and secured to the shaft 3 1 of the roller 18 and the shaft 35 upon which the cutter roll 12 is mounted, respectively. The rollers 18 and 12 and the drum are thus each positively driven at substantially the same peripheral speed so as to ensure proper booking of the leaves and to prevent slipping of the belts 15.

The cutter roll sections 13, 13 are slidably I mounted upon the shaft 35 and are adapted to be clamped in any position to which they are adjusted with respect to each other, by the set screws 36., It will be understood that these cutter roll sections 13, 13 are moved nearertogether or further apart to accommodate the width of stem of the tobacco of different kinds, and at their adjacent ends the roll sections 13, 13 have disks 37, 37 which project beyond the roll sections and form annular cutting fiangespreferably beveled from their outer sides somewhat bluntly inward as shown.

Above the cutter roll is arranged the cutter proper, comprising a shaft 38 see Figures land 9, with knives 40,,40which work between the flanges; 37 ,37 of the cutter roll and are provided with hubs 41, 41 projecting away from each other and forming long hearings on the shaft 38. Said hubs each have a. longitudinal slot 12 receiving a key 43 on the shaft 38, by means of which the hub and its knife rotates with the said shaft and yet is slidable longitudinally thereof. Resilient means for normally holding said knives slid apart in frictional engagement with the cutting flanges 37, 37', and for regulating the resilient tension, is provided in the following structure. A helical spring 4.4 on the shaft 38 is connected to the end of each hub away from its knife and also connected at its other end to a collar 45 made fast on the shaft 38, as by a set. screw 46, these springs being under tension so as to draw the two knives apart and cause them to press against the inner sides of the cutter roll flanges 37, 37. The knives are each formed with the face next the hub offset somewhat inwardly over the hub around the periphery as at 4-7 leaving an undercut as in the blade around the hub. Furthermore, the hub is reduced in diame ter at its end next the blade as at 49 forming a peripheral groove. As the stem is sheared from the leaf the fresh cut edge of the leaf is thus afforded room to be pressed downward past the peripheral cutting edge 47 without being in constant frictional contact at its edge with the knife and hub and therefore not curled or retarded there-by. A bushing 50 is fitted loosely on the shaft 38 and extends between the keys 43 across the space between the knives 40 so as to form a guard for a cleaning implement which may be inserted between the knives to clean the same and prevent the cleaning implement from being caught in the keyway in the shaft.

The'cutter is driven by means of a gear 51 secured to the cutter shaft 38 and mesh ing with a gear on the cutter roller shaft 35 arranged adjacent the gear 3-1 through which the cutter roller 12 is driven. The knives 40 being held in frictional engagement with the cutter roller flanges 37 and rotated simultaneously therewith. will not only cut the tobacco with a sharp true cut, but will discharge the stems freely and exert no tendency to entangle said stems.

The stem of tobacc leaf is fed in between the flanges 37, 37 of he cutter roll with either end first, and the side portions of the leaf are spread out upon the roller sections 13, 13 and the belts 15 thereon. In order to support the stem a rest 53 is inserted between the roller sections 13, 13 comprising alight bar projecting upward from a bracket 54' secured to the front frame strut 5, see Figure 3, said bar curving inwardly over the cutter roller shaft with its inner end extendingsubstantially parallel to the belts and a little below the groove 57 in the bracket 54. The elevation of the rest 53 is thus adjustable for various sizes of stems, and it can be removed for cleaning or replacing. For guiding the stems away from the rest 53, a discharge chute 58 is secured to the bracket 54 and extends downwardly beneath the drum to guide the stems away from the drum and belts t prevent entanglement. It willibe noted that the two belts 15 adjacent the chute 58 011 opposite sides thereof are twisted between the rollers 20 and the tension rollers 19 so as to provide clearance for the falling stems. I

An idle presser roller 59 is preferably arranged above the cutter roll and in front of the cutter as shown in Figures 3 and 12 especially. This roller 59 is mounted at its ends on conical bearing points 60 atthe outer ends of bracket arms 61 integral with collars 62 loosely mounted on the cutter shaft 38, said roller being yieldingly held against the cutter roller 12 by means of an.

inverted U-shaped leafspring 63 interposed between a rod 61 extending between the bracket arms 61 and a bar 64 extending across the front of the machine above the roller 59 and fastened to the side frames 1 and2. The spring 63 will yield to accommodate inequalities or rough spots in the leaves but will hold the rollers 59 against the leaves to smooth and guide them. The roller is grooved at its center, as at 592,110 clear the flanges 37, 37 o'f the cutter roller and direct the leaf stem over the knives.

It will be noted that the stem of a leafis entirely out out before the leaf enters between the drum and belts, and it is the purpose of my invention to allow suflicientdis tance between the cutter and drum so that the stem will assume its proper coursebefo're the side portions of theleaf become clamped between the drum and belts. The pressure of the idle roller 59 is light and not s uflicient to hold the sideportionsof the'leaf so that I the stem cannot assume its proper position and direction upon entering the machine. The stem is compelled to take its proper course by the support 53. and cutting flanges and the .side portions of the leaf follow it;

, the stem' is thus cut out of the le'af by means which follows the stem and will shift the position of the leaf port-ionsbeforeit will cut across the stem. As the severed stem passes down the inner portion of the support 53 between the cutting flanges it guides the leaf portions on either side of itself down the belts 15 and between the same and the drum sections so that successive leaf portions are accurately and exactly booked.

The roller 16 at the front ofthe drum over which the belts turn backward, is mounted in an apron consisting of end arms 65, 65 having their rear ends made fast on the shaft 66 of the top front roller 17. The

shaft 67 of the roller 16 has its bearings in the forward ends of the arms 65,. 65, and a brushshaft 68 is also journaled in the outer ends of said arms in front of the roller 16', said brush shaft being driven by a pinion 69 on the brush shaft which normally meshes with the gear wheel 32.. Said brush shaft comprises end portions 70, 7O journaled in the arms 65, 65 and carrying between themselves the twisted wire 71 which is provided with radially projecting bristles as is common in brush making, said twisted wire being in alineinent with the shaft portions 7 O,

and shown inserted within and secured to H suitable sleeves 72 which are inserted in holes in the ends of the shaft portions, althoughany other suitably equivalent construction could be employed. The sleeve 72 at the end of the brush next the pinion 69 is fixed to the shaft portion as by a set screw 73 so that the brush will be rotated as the gear rotates; The other sleeve may rotate withinthe shaft portion 70 providing a long bearing The brush is thus between 7 the arms 65, 65 of the apron and is positioned with referenceto the roller 16 so as to engage the same and brush it and the belts thereon sufficiently to disengage therefrom the ends of any leaves or halves of lea ves which tend to leave their booked po-v sition and follow the belts 15 around the roller 16 because of adhesion or the like.

It will be noted that the brush just described is exposed toward the front of the machine, so that if any leaf or portion of a leaf escapes in spite of said brush it will be readily accessible to the operator and can be removed without injury or entanglement in the machine, and again fed into the machine and booked.

To positivelydisengage any portions of the leaves which might stick to the cutter and to clean the hubs 41 of the cutter and knives 40 of any portions of the leaves, dirt or gum, a cleaning plate 74 is secured substantially centrally of the bar 64 extending across the front of the machine, said clean-.

per surface of the hubs 41 of the cutter and is notched at 78 to clear the knives 40 on the cutter, the said notch being of sufficient width to allow the knives 40 to be spread by the springs 44. A moistening pad' 79 is fitted beneath the plate 74 to moisten and clean the presser roller 59 and knives 40, said pad being loose and held in engagement with the said knives androller by the plate The apron which carries the roller. 16 and brush as described is adapted to be swung upward from its solid line position to the dotted line position shown in Figure 3 of the drawing, in order to expose the ends of booked leaves on the drum and enable the books to be removed or grasped for removal, and for this purpose I have shown the end of the shaft 66 upon which the apron is'secured as provided with a handle 81, see

Figures 1 apd A. This handle has a hub which is clamped upon the shaft 66 by a set screw or otherwise made fast thereon.

Each of the side arms 65 of the apron is provided with an outwardly extending lug 82- which carries an adjustable stop screw lowering the apron to causev proper operation of the'b-rush or roller 16. To limit the upward and backward movement of the apron stop arms 85 are secured to or made integral with the sides of the frame and, are provided with adjustable stop screws 85? against which the arms 65 of the apron are adapted to rest.

The individual tension rollers 19 are each mounted in an arm 86 which is pivoted on the rear tie-rod 3 and preferably extends forward and downward therefrom. Tensio-n upon each belt is secured by attaching to the arm 86 intermediate the roller 19 and tie-rod 3 a helical spring 87 which extends rearward and is connected at its other end to an eye 87 secured vin the strut 6 of the frame. It will be noted that the arms86 with their tension roll 19 and tension springs I 87 lie wholly within the lower part of the frame work of my improved machine so as to be guarded and shielded thereby against im pact and injury from anything passing the.

machine.

' In order to enable the drum to stop at the end of each complete rotation, for the in having a sliding collar 88 adapted to be operated by a lever 89 fulcrumed intermediate its ends upon a bracket 90 projecting from the side frame 2, said lever being adapted to swing in a horizontal plane as shown, although of course this is not essential. Any suitable and well-known form of clutch may be employed, but I prefer to use, and have shown, the clutch set forth in the United States Patent of Martin Deiller, No. 1,176,438 01? March 21, 1916, and to which reference may be had for further description of said clutch if desired.

The forward end of the lever 89 or end away from the clutch lies in the fork of the upright arm 91 of a bell-crank lever pivoted upon a bracket 92, see Figure 1, to swing in a plane transverse to the lever and having its other arm 93 projecting horizonally through the side frame 2. At the free or inner end of this arm 93 is a pin 94 projecting toward the back of the machine and normally at the upper end of a slot 95 in a link 96 which extends upward to a trip 97 pivoted as at 98 upon the inner side of the frame 2 and adapted to swing up and down to work the bell-crank lever and throw the clutch in and out. A spiral spring 99 normally holds said trip at its upper limit of movement and holds the link upward so the bellcrank lever arm 93 may swing upward and allow the clutch to be thrown in under the action of a spring 100 forming part of the clutch mechanism. This trip 97 provides at its inner side a slideway 101 for a slide 102, said slide having. at one end a portion 103 projecting from the trip far enough to engage a pin 104 on the end of the drum, which pin will however clear the trip itself. Obviously if the slide 102 is in proper position the pin 104 will engage the projection 103 and depress the trip 97 tothrow out the clutch and stop the drum. In this way the drum is automatically stopped at the end of each rotation, for the insertion of a new leaf.

In order to start the drum rotating means are provided for sliding the slide 102 to withdraw its projection 103 from beneath the drum pin 104, whereupon the spring 99 will draw the trip upward and allow the clutch to be thrown in. Any suitable means could be employed such as a slide re-- leasing bell-crank 105 pivoted upon the inner side of the frame 2 with one arm extend ing upwardly and connected to the slide by a slot-andspin and its other arm connected.

by a rod 106 to a treadle 107 mounted upon the front bottom tie-rod 4, said treadle be ing normally held upward' to throw the slide 102 into position to be engaged by the pin 104 and stop the drum. A step 108 projecting from the side piece 2 in the path of swingof the bell-crank 105 in proper posi-' ti'oii to limit the outward swingthereof and prevent the slide- 96 froi'ntoo great movement outward. Also a stop or pin 109 projects from the slide 102 near its forward end toward the trip,.and works in a groove 110 in said trip as the slide is moved vback andifort h, said groove being limited in length so that the stop will engage the end thereof and thus limit the retractive movement of the slide .96 when the treadle is depressed.

To enable the operator to stop the drum at any time during its rotation preferably a rod 111 is provided extending from the for Ward end of the lever 89 transversely of the machine through the side frame 2 and pivoted at its end to the upright arm of a bellcrank lever 112 which is fulcrumed upon a bracketsecured to the side frame 2, as shown in Figure 1. The other arm of said bellcrank lever 112 is connected by a downwardly extending rod 113 to a foot treadle 114 also mounted upon the front bottom tierod at at the left-hand side of the machine and is normally held upward by a spring 115 with the clutch thrown in. Thus, by simply depressing the left-hand foot treadle 114, the operator can at any time stop the machine, while by depressing the right-hand treadle 101 he can start the machine when a:

new leaf is inserted, and since the bell-crank arm 93 is connected by slot and pin through the link 96 to the trip 97 the trip will not be disturbed by depressing the left-hand treadle 114 which swings said arm 93 in throwing the clutch out.

To prevent backward rotation or rebounding of the drum after its forward rotation has been stopped in the above manner, and thus prevent the clutch shoes from being thrown against the constantly rotating pulley 22, a stop lug 116 is secured to the periphery of the drum at one end thereof, said stop lug being adapted to be engagedby a gravity operated pawl or dog 117 pivoted on the upper tie rod 3, see Figure 3. The rear end of said lug 116 is slightly beveled so that the end of the dog 117 in dropping behind it will always be in tight engagement with the lug to take up lost motion, and this bevel also compensates for wear of the dog and lug. It is obvious that the lug can slip forwardly under the dog as the drum rotates in a forward direction, but that upon stopping of the drum by the stop mechanism above described the dog will fall behind the lug to prevent backward rotation of the drum. Unnecessary wear of the clutch shoes is thus avoided.

In some instances where the tobacco leaves are unusually gummy or moist, or the stems are unusually large, there would be a tendency for the severed stems to stick in the annular groove 61 on the drum, and to eliminate this possibility, alzdeflectorwplate 118' maybe conveniently 'hingedly connected at oneend, as ,at ll9, ,to.the drive shaft 21, the other ,end of theplate having a tongue 120 engaging the annular groove 11, anda spring 121 being connected between the plate 118 and the strut 6,.atthe rear ofthe machine to yieldingly hold the tongue 120 in the groove 11, (see Figure 3). If any stem sticks in the groove 11 after passing the chute 58 the tongue 120 will dislodge it, and cause it to fall beneath the machine. The deflector plate 118 also serves to deflect the stems toward the front of the machine to prevent the stems from piling up at the rear and entangling in the tension pulleys 19 and belts 15.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a drum, booking belts extending around said drum, a cutter roller, a cutter shaft, a cutter on said shaft to cut out the stem of a leaf as it passes between the drum and belts, and drive means for said belt and cutter roller, of a pair of loose collars rotatable on said cutter shaft and each having a laterally projecting bracket bearing arm, and a presser roller journaled between said bracket arms and engaging the cutter roller to smooth out the leaves as they pass into the cutter.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a drum, booking belts extending around said drum, a cutter roller, a cutter shaft, a cutter on said shaft to cut out the stem of a leaf as it passes between the drum and belts, and drive means for said belt and cutter roller, of a pair of loose collars rotatable on said cutter shaft and each having a laterally projecting bracket bearing arm, a presser roller journaled between said bracket arms and engaging the cutter roller to smooth out the leaves as they pass into the cutter, and spring means for yield ingly maintaining said presser roller in engagement with the cutter roller.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a drum, booking belts extending around said drum, a cutter roller, a cutter shaft, a cutter on said shaft to cut out the stem of a leaf as it passes between the drum and belts, and drive means for said belt and cutter roller, of a pair of loose collars rotatable on said cutter shaft and each having a laterally projecting bracket bearing arm, a presser roller journaled between said bracket arms and engaging the cutter roller to smooth out the leaves as they pass into the cutter, a rod connected between the bracket bearing arms, and spring means engaging said rod to yieldingly maintain said presser roller in engagement with said cutter roller. 4. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with a frame, a drum rotatablymounted thereon, booking belts extending around said drum, means for driving said drum, means for cutting the stem out of a leaf as it enters between the said drum and belts, and means for automatically stopping rotation of said drum, of means for preventing rebounding or backward rotation of said drum after its forward rotation is stopped comprising a lug secured'to said drum, and a dog pivotally mounted on said frame to engage the rear of said lug as the drum is stopped, said dog allowing the lug to slip under it as-the drum rotates forwardly.

I EUGENE M. DEILLER. 

